What is .mit?
Brand TLDs operate under Specification 13 of ICANN's registry agreement. It lets a trademark owner keep every second-level name for itself, so you won't find .mit names for sale at any registrar.
ICANN's records put the delegation of .mit on July 6, 2016. Like most of the newer endings, it was applied for in the 2012 New gTLD Program round and its registry agreement was signed on July 2, 2015.
Under the hood, the root zone points to 4 name servers for .mit, every one of them reachable over IPv6. The delegation is DNSSEC-signed, so resolvers can verify that answers for .mit haven't been tampered with on the way. Registration data is published over RDAP and WHOIS (the WHOIS server is whois.nic.mit).
.mit FAQ
What country is .mit?
None. .mit is a generic top-level domain, so it isn't tied to any country.
Who owns the .mit domain extension?
Massachusetts Institute of Technology operates .mit as its registry, under a registry agreement with ICANN.
When was .mit created?
.mit was delegated to the DNS root zone on July 6, 2016.
Is .mit a valid domain?
Yes. .mit is an active top-level domain in the DNS root zone, delegated in 2016, so .mit addresses work in every browser.
Can I buy a .mit domain?
No. .mit is a brand TLD under ICANN Specification 13, so names are reserved for Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Is .mit DNSSEC-signed?
Yes, the root zone holds a DS record for .mit.
Sources
Data from IANA root zone version 2026102000. Last changed August 4, 2023. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
